Either Gov. Kathy Hochul is clueless about what’s driving Jew-hatred at CUNY — or she knows full well but lacks the backbone to properly address it.
That’s the only possible conclusion from ex-Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s new report on CUNY antisemitism.
The 139-page document’s very title, “Antisemitism and Discrimination at the City University of New York,” hints at what the gov sought: a politically correct review that pretends to fix problems — without upsetting apple carts.
Why else include “and Discrimination” in the title if the goal was to stamp out antisemitism specifically?
That in itself paints the report as inexcusably naïve — if not an outright whitewash.
Yes, Lippman admits serious problems at CUNY.
But he zeroes in (as Hochul wanted) on “policies and procedures,” suggesting marginal tweaks that won’t make much difference:
- Improve the school’s portal for complaints of antisemitism (and discrimination).
- Better train diversity officers to handle those complaints. (Seriously? Why are diversity officers even needed at one of the most diverse university systems in the nation? Worse: DEI ideology is inherently antisemitic, so it’s nuts to trust these officials on this front.)
- Examine CUNY’s hiring processes and train profs on “implicit bias.”
Uh, how about firing blatant antisemites who spread false information smearing Israel and Jews?
Or, better yet, not hiring them in the first place?
Last year, Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY cited the school’s “seemingly deliberate campaign of systemically curtailing recruitment of both Jewish students and employees.”
By March 2023, not one of the “80 campus president and senior leadership positions” was held by a Jew, the group reported.
Worse, “CUNY seems hell-bent on replacing its Jews with antisemites,” charged group founder Prof. Jeffrey Lax.
Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez, for example, hired Saly Abd Alla — former director of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota and an activist for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — as CUNY’s top chief diversity officer.
“The university doesn’t merely misunderstand antisemitism,” fumes Lax.
“Its leaders actively work to promote and defend it.”
Lippman’s review doesn’t really address any of this. Instead, it praises Rodriguez for fighting antisemitism — though he’s clearly done little to fix the problem.
As we’ve written, higher education is plagued by DEI — which drives Jew-hatred, falsely painting Jews as oppressors and colonizers and Palestinians as their victims.
If Hochul wants to purge Jew-hatred at CUNY, she’d demand a real house cleaning — starting, perhaps, with Rodriguez himself.
She’d ban hate-fueling DEI (and profs who promote its warped ideology) and require a more politically balanced staff, rather than one dominated by radical leftists.
Yet that wasn’t her goal.
Which is why she tapped the left-leaning, don’t-make-waves ex-judge to draft his milquetoast review.
It’s tragic: CUNY has long been a place where New Yorkers of modest means could afford a decent education.
It’s now a hotbed of Jew-hate in the city with more Jews than any other.
And the Hochul-Lippman cover-up won’t change that one whit.
